21100900D
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That 2.2-3703, 2.2-3705.2, 2.2-3711, 9.1-101, 9.1-177.1, 9.1-907, 9.1-908, 10.1-104.7, 16.1-69.55, 16.1-300, 16.1-305, 17.1-213, 17.1-805, 19.2-11.01, 19.2-169.3, 19.2-174.1, 19.2-299, 19.2-301, 19.2-388, 19.2-389, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, 19.2-389.1, 19.2-392.02, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, 37.2-844, 37.2-845, 37.2-846, 37.2-1102, 44-146.18:4, 44-146.22, 53.1-136, 53.1-145, and 63.2-105 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
2.2-3703. Public bodies and records to which chapter inapplicable; voter registration and election records; access by persons incarcerated in a state, local, or federal correctional facility.
A. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:
1. The Virginia Parole Board, except that (i) information from the Virginia Parole Board providing the number of inmates considered by the Board for discretionary parole, the number of inmates granted or denied parole, and the number of parolees returned to the custody of the Department of Corrections solely as a result of a determination by the Board of a violation of parole shall be open to inspection and available for release, on a monthly basis, as provided by 2.2-3704; (ii) all guidance documents, as defined in 2.2-4101, shall be public records and subject to the provisions of this chapter; and (iii) all records concerning the finances of the Virginia Parole Board shall be public records and subject to the provisions of this chapter. The information required by clause (i) shall be furnished by offense, sex, race, age of the inmate, and the locality in which the conviction was obtained, upon the request of the party seeking the information. The information required by clause (ii) shall include all documents establishing the policy of the Board or any change in or clarification of such policy with respect to grant, denial, deferral, revocation, or supervision of parole or geriatric release or the process for consideration thereof, and shall be clearly and conspicuously posted on the Board's website. However, such information shall not include any portion of any document reflecting the application of any policy or policy change or clarification of such policy to an individual inmate;
2. Petit juries and grand juries;
3. Family assessment and planning teams established pursuant to 2.2-5207;
4. Sexual assault response teams established pursuant to 15.2-1627.4, except that records relating to (i) protocols and policies of the sexual assault response team and (ii) guidelines for the community's response established by the sexual assault response team shall be public records and subject to the provisions of this chapter;
5. Multidisciplinary child sexual abuse response teams established pursuant to 15.2-1627.5;
6. The Virginia State Crime Commission; and
7. The records maintained by the clerks of the courts of record, as defined in 1-212, for which clerks are custodians under 17.1-242, and courts not of record, as defined in 16.1-69.5, for which clerks are custodians under 16.1-69.54, including those transferred for storage, maintenance, or archiving. Such records shall be requested in accordance with the provisions of 16.1-69.54:1 and 17.1-208, as appropriate. However, other records maintained by the clerks of such courts shall be public records and subject to the provisions of this chapter.
B. Public access to voter registration and election records shall be governed by the provisions of Title 24.2 and this chapter. The provisions of Title 24.2 shall be controlling in the event of any conflict.
C. No provision of this chapter or Chapter 21 ( 30-178 et
seq.) of Title 30 shall be construed to afford any rights to any person (i) incarcerated in a state,
local or federal correctional facility, whether or not such facility is (a)
(i) located in the Commonwealth or
(b) (ii)
operated pursuant to the Corrections Private Management Act ( 53.1-261 et
seq.) or (ii) civilly committed pursuant to the Sexually
Violent Predators Act ( 37.2-900 et seq.). However, this
subsection shall not be construed to prevent such persons from exercising their
constitutionally protected rights, including, but not limited to, their right
to call for evidence in their favor in a criminal prosecution.
2.2-3705.2. Exclusions to application of chapter; records relating to public safety.
The following information contained in a public record is excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions of this chapter but may be disclosed by the custodian in his discretion, except where such disclosure is prohibited by law. Redaction of information excluded under this section from a public record shall be conducted in accordance with 2.2-3704.01.
1. Confidential information, including victim identity, provided to or obtained by staff in a rape crisis center or a program for battered spouses.
2. Information that describes the design, function, operation, or access control features of any security system, whether manual or automated, which is used to control access to or use of any automated data processing or telecommunications system.
3. Information that would disclose the security aspects of a system safety program plan adopted pursuant to Federal Transit Administration regulations by the Commonwealth's designated Rail Fixed Guideway Systems Safety Oversight agency; and information in the possession of such agency, the release of which would jeopardize the success of an ongoing investigation of a rail accident or other incident threatening railway safety.
4. Information concerning security plans and specific assessment components of school safety audits, as provided in 22.1-279.8.
Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent the disclosure of information relating to the effectiveness of security plans after (i) any school building or property has been subjected to fire, explosion, natural disaster, or other catastrophic event or (ii) any person on school property has suffered or been threatened with any personal injury.
5. Information
concerning the mental health assessment of an individual subject to commitment
as a sexually violent predator under Chapter 9 ( 37.2-900 et seq.) of Title
37.2 held by the Commitment Review Committee; except that in no case shall
information identifying the victims of a sexually violent predator be
disclosed.
6.
Subscriber data provided directly or indirectly by a communications services
provider to a public body that operates a 911 or E-911 emergency dispatch
system or an emergency notification or reverse 911 system if the data is in a
form not made available by the communications services provider to the public
generally. Nothing in this subdivision shall prevent the disclosure of
subscriber data generated in connection with specific calls to a 911 emergency
system, where the requester is seeking to obtain public records about the use
of the system in response to a specific crime, emergency or other event as to
which a citizen has initiated a 911 call.
For the purposes of this subdivision:
"Communications services provider" means the same as that term is defined in 58.1-647.
"Subscriber data" means the name, address, telephone number, and any other information identifying a subscriber of a communications services provider.
7. 6. Subscriber data collected by
a local governing body in accordance with the Enhanced Public Safety Telephone
Services Act ( 56-484.12 et seq.) and other identifying information of a
personal, medical, or financial nature provided to a local governing body in
connection with a 911 or E-911 emergency dispatch system or an emergency
notification or reverse 911 system if such records are not otherwise publicly
available.
Nothing in this subdivision shall prevent the disclosure of subscriber data generated in connection with specific calls to a 911 emergency system, where the requester is seeking to obtain public records about the use of the system in response to a specific crime, emergency or other event as to which a citizen has initiated a 911 call.
For the purposes of this subdivision:
"Communications services provider" means the same as that term is defined in 58.1-647.
"Subscriber data" means the name, address, telephone number, and any other information identifying a subscriber of a communications services provider.
8. 7. Information
held by the Virginia Military Advisory Council or any commission created by
executive order for the purpose of studying and making recommendations
regarding preventing closure or realignment of federal military and national
security installations and facilities located in Virginia and relocation of
such facilities to Virginia, or a local or regional military affairs
organization appointed by a local governing body, that would (i) reveal
strategies under consideration or development by the Council or such commission
or organizations to prevent the closure or realignment of federal military
installations located in Virginia or the relocation of national security
facilities located in Virginia, to limit the adverse economic effect of such
realignment, closure, or relocation, or to seek additional tenant activity
growth from the Department of Defense or federal government or (ii) disclose
trade secrets provided to the Council or such commission or organizations in
connection with their work.
In order to invoke the trade secret protection provided by clause (ii), the submitting entity shall, in writing and at the time of submission (a) invoke this exclusion, (b) identify with specificity the information for which such protection is sought, and (c) state the reason why such protection is necessary. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent the disclosure of all or part of any record, other than a trade secret that has been specifically identified as required by this subdivision, after the Department of Defense or federal agency has issued a final, unappealable decision, or in the event of litigation, a court of competent jurisdiction has entered a final, unappealable order concerning the closure, realignment, or expansion of the military installation or tenant activities, or the relocation of the national security facility, for which records are sought.
9. 8. Information,
as determined by the State Comptroller, that describes the design, function,
operation, or implementation of internal controls over the Commonwealth's
financial processes and systems, and the assessment of risks and
vulnerabilities of those controls, including the annual assessment of internal
controls mandated by the State Comptroller, if disclosure of such information
would jeopardize the security of the Commonwealth's financial assets. However,
records relating to the investigation of and findings concerning the soundness
of any fiscal process shall be disclosed in a form that does not compromise
internal controls. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prohibit
the Auditor of Public Accounts or the Joint Legislative Audit and Review
Commission from reporting internal control deficiencies discovered during the
course of an audit.
10. 9. Information
relating to the Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS) or any other similar
local or regional public safety communications system that (i) describes the
design, function, programming, operation, or access control features of the
overall system, components, structures, individual networks, and subsystems of
the STARS or any other similar local or regional communications system or (ii)
relates to radio frequencies assigned to or utilized by STARS or any other
similar local or regional communications system, code plugs, circuit routing,
addressing schemes, talk groups, fleet maps, encryption, or programming
maintained by or utilized by STARS or any other similar local or regional
public safety communications system.
11. 10. Information
concerning a salaried or volunteer Fire/EMS company or Fire/EMS department if
disclosure of such information would reveal the telephone numbers for cellular
telephones, pagers, or comparable portable communication devices provided to
its personnel for use in the performance of their official duties.
12. 11. Information
concerning the disaster recovery plans or the evacuation plans in the event of
fire, explosion, natural disaster, or other catastrophic event for hospitals
and nursing homes regulated by the Board of Health pursuant to Chapter 5 (
32.1-123 et seq.) of Title 32.1 provided to the Department of Health. Nothing
in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent the disclosure of information
relating to the effectiveness of executed evacuation plans after the occurrence
of fire, explosi